South Carolina [US]: The Rural Infrastructure Fund grant of $9 million recently received approval from the Chester County Coordinating Council for Economic Development. The county will be able to utilize this grant to finance improvements to infrastructure, cover related costs associated with the construction of Albemarle Corp's "Mega-Flex" Lithium Hydroxide processing facility near Richburg, and pay for any site preparation.

This marks an important step towards bringing this ambitious project to life.

The South Carolina Department of Commerce recently revealed that the council awarded Job Development Credits (JDCs) for this project. The Department of Commerce, the value of JDCs is dependent on certain factors such as wage rate and tier ranking of the county. As these credits are performance-based, a company must meet their investment and job creation criteria in order to collect them.

Albemarle, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based company, announced plans to invest at least $1.3 billion on a new facility that will support rising demand for electric vehicles and energy storage applications using Lithium-ion batteries. The construction of the facility, set to take place on 800 acres, is expected to begin in 2024 and create more than 300 jobs when completed. The facility is expected to produce 50,000 metric tons of battery-grade Lithium Hydroxide annually, and possibly up to 100,000 metric tons.

Spartanburg County recently received a $400,000 Set-Aside grant from the Coordinating Council for Economic Development to help fund building improvements associated with TIME Bicycles, an aspiring South Carolina operation. The company plans to invest $6.5 million in the state and create 105 new jobs. In addition, the agency approved job development credits related to this project.

Excitement is building as plans get underway to renovate a 140,000-square-foot factory in Landrum into a manufacturing base for carbon fibre bicycles. With renovations expected to begin in April and operations commencing by the end of the year.